Lather making machine



Jan. 28, 1964 H. E. BARROWS ETAL ATHER MAKING MACHINE H. E. BARROWS ETAL 3,119,779

LATHER MAKING MACHINE Jan. 28, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14. 1961 1964 H. E. BARROWS ETAL 7 LATHER MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Shee t 3 Filed Dec. 14, 1961 Howard .E. Barrows Jan. 28, 1964 H. E. BARROWS ETAL 3, 7

LATHER MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14. 19 61 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Howard flBar-ruws James PrsngaZ Jan. 28, 1964 H. E. BARROWS ETAL 3,119,779

LATHER MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 a warm 3.1 352"? mzlvs ams range V HM? 3 United States Patent 3,119,779 LATHER MAKING MACE Howard E. Barrows and Eames R. Prengel, Milwaukee,

Wis., assignors to .lohn (Ester Manufacturing (30., Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Dec. 14, 1951, fier. No. 160,417 6 Claims. (51. 252359) This invention, like that of the pending application, Serial No. 59,225, filed September 29, 1960 (now abandoned), of which thi is a continuation-in-part, relates to lather-making machines and refers more particularly to machines for forming lather from liquid soap solution. Broadly, therefore, the present invention may be classified with the lathenmaking machine of the Tuttle Patent No. 2,556,694, rather than the machine of the Stevens Patent No. 2,925,202, which uses solid bar soap, rather than a liquid soap solution.

The purpose and object of this invention is to provide a compact inexpensive machine for producing lather from liquid soap solution.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lathermaking machine which will produce a smooth, creamy lather, free from large sudsy soap bubbles, and deliver the same in adequate volume almost instantaneously whenever the machine is turned on.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a lather-making machine having a suds-chamber in which liquid soap solution is whipped into suds, and a lather chamber located directly above the suds-chamber and so communicated therewith that suds produced in the lower suds-chamber move directly into the lather chamber to be there converted into lather, while any unconverted watery suds drain back into the sudschamber.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lather making machine which produces lather by first whipping a liquid soap solution into suds and then converting the suds into lather of the desired consistency, wherein the transformation of the suds intolather takes place in a chamber which, though directly superimposed above the chamber in which the liquid soap solution is whipped into suds, is nevertheless quite isolated therefrom and communicated with the suds chamber only through a restricted passage, so that it is virtually impossible for the machine to deliver wet sudsy lather.

With a view toward achieving simplicity in the construction and operation of the machine, it is another object of the present invention to provide a lather-making machine wherein the means employed to whip the soap solution into suds and convent the suds into lather, are both driven by a common hollow power shaft which extends vertically down from a drive unit at the top of the machine through the lather chamber and into the suds chamber, so that this one shaft not only drives the suds and lather producing agitators or boaters, but also serves as an air inlet into the sudschamber.

It is a feature of the invention that the aforesaid hollow drive shaft opens directly downwardly into the suds chamber so that in the event the lower end of its bore should at any time become clogged (though this is highly unlikely since it is usually immersed in liquid soap solution) the obstruction can be quickly and easily dislodged by simply pushing a rod or wire down through the bore of the shaft.

It is also a feature and object of this invention to provide a screw type pump or conveyor on that portion of the shaft which passes through the hole communicating the superimposed lather and suds chambers to accelerate the delivery of suds from the suds chamber into the lather chamber.

For the machine to function properly, it is important 3,119,779 Patented Jan. 28, 1964 "ice that a predetermined level of liquid soap solution be maintained in its suds chamber and, to that end, it is an object of the invention to provide the machine with means for automatically feeding liquid soap solution from a refillable supply thereof, into the suds chamber as the level therein drops due to the conversion of the soap solution into suds and the delivery of the suds into the lather chamber.

In this connection, it is also an object of this invention to provide means for automatically \feeding soap solution into the suds chamber which, although fully automatic, employs no valves or other mechanism the functioning of which could be deleteriously affected by periods of nonuse of the machine.

Still another feature of the invention is an extremely simple and reliable switch actuating device by which the operator may close the switch which controls the motor of the machine by the same hand he uses to receive the lather as it issues from the machine.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example oi the physical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best mode so tar devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the lather making machine of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view through the machine;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal cross sectional view through the machine taken generally on the plane of the line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through FIGURE 2 on the planes of the line 4-4;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the machine with parts broken away and in section, to better illustrate structural details;

FIGURE 6 is a'perspective view of the lower end portion of the hollow motor shaft, illustrating particularly the combined whip-per and pump which is mounted thereon; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective view of the switch actuating-mechanism per se.

In general, the lather making machine of this invention, as shown the accompanying drawings, comprises a suds chamber 10 in which liquid soap solution automatically maintained at a predetermined level, is whipped into suds, and a lather chamber 11 directly above the suds chamber and communicated therewith through a hole 12, centrally located in a wall 13 which is common to the two chambers. The suds produced in the lower suds chamber by rapid rotation of a power driven whip-per 14 fills the space within this chamber above the level of the liquid therein and enters the lather chamber through the hole 12. In the lather chamber a rapidly rotating agitator 15 breaks down the larger air-soap bubbles which comprise the suds that was formed in the lower suds chamber, into smaller bubbles and thus converts the suds into a smooth creamy lather, which debouches from the machine through a delivery spout 16 whenever the machine is turned on. The machine is turned on by pushing down on a knob l7. This starts. a drive motor 1-8, the shaft 19 of which has both the whipper 14 and the agitator 15 fixed thereon.

Attention is directed to the fact that the knob 17 is so located at the front of the machine that the operators hand when placed to receive the lather issuing from the spout 16 naturally rests upon this knob.

The motor shaft 19 is hollow. Its upper end opens to the atmosphere and its lower end opens directly into the lower part of the suds chamber beneath the surface of the liquid soap solution therein. Hence, the shaft not only carries and drives the whipper 14 and the agitator 15, but also provides an air inlet through which the air needed to aerate the soap solution and enable the whipper to produce suds, enters the machine.

Although the increase in the volume of the suds in the suds chamber alone will propel suds through the hole 12 and into the lather chamber, an Archimedean screw-type pump 20 mounted on that portion of the hollow shaft which passes through the hole 12, hastens the transfer of the suds to the lather chamber and thus contributes to minimize the delay in the initial delivery of lather after the machine is turned on. Preferably this screw and the whipper 14 are formed as one integral casting or plastic molding, which is slipped onto the shaft 19 after the agitator 15 is in place thereon, and then threaded to the shaft. The agitator is preferably formed of a somewhat resilient material and fits the shaft quite tightly, and to hold the same in place the combined whipper and screw bears solidly against the underside of the agitator.

The superimposed suds and lather chambers are formed as integral parts of a fiat generally oblong base 21 from which they rise near one end of the base. The suds chamber is dome-like in shape and the hole 12 which is coaxial with the two chambers, is at its very top. A plate 22 removably secured to the underside of the base with a gasket 23 confined between the perimitral portion of the plate and the base, closes the bottom of the suds chamber.

The plate 22 and the gasket 23 also coact with a downwardly opening groove 24 in the bottom of the base, to define an entrance passage into the suds chamber through which liquid soap solution enters the suds chamber. This passage communicates the interior of the suds chamber with a hole 25 which opens upwardly through the top of the base into a reservoir 26 in which a supply of liquid soap solution is automatically maintained to a predetermined level, as will be hereinafter described. Preferably, the groove 24 is of zigzag formation so that the entry into the interior of the suds chamber is somewhat restricted to minimize the likelihood that the revolving whipper will force the liquid soap solution from the suds chamber through this inlet; and to prevent swirling of the contents of the suds chamber with a view toward hastening conversion thereof into suds, the dome-like interior of the suds chamber has a plurality of bafiles 27 projecting radially in from its walls.

A housing 28 preferably formed as a plastic molding, is detachably secured to the base as by screws 29, to enclose the structure which defines the suds chamber and the lather chamber and the electric motor 18 which is mounted upon that structure. The housing 28 also coacts with the base 21 to define the reservoir 26, which as shown, is alongside the superimposed suds and lather chambers.

Above the reservoir the housing forms an upwardly opening substantially cylindrical socket 30, the bottom wall 31 of which has a relatively large hole 32 which opens directly to the reservoir. For more than half of its circumference the cylindrical side wall 33 of the socket is much lower than the full height of the housing, but at the side thereof nearest the superimposed suds and lather chambers, the sidewall of the socket continues to the top of the housing. This results in a stepped shape for the housing and facilitates placement into the socket and removal therefrom of a refillable container 35 of liquid soap solution.

The container 35 may be an ordinary Mason jar with a special cap 36 held in place by a conventional closure-securing ring 37 threaded to the jar. The cap has a central protrusion with a hole 38 in its end wall 39 so that when the jar is inverted and set into the socket 3i) resting upon its bottom wall 31, as shown, the end wall 39 is at the level at which the liquid soap solution is to be maintained in the suds chamber 10. Since the hole 38 provides the only opening into the jar or container, it follows that soap solution will flow from the container into the reservoir 26 and, from there, into the suds chamber 10 until the rising level of the soap solution in the chamber 10 and in the reservoir reaches the end wall 39 and closes off the admission of air into the container. In this manner, soap solution is automatically fed into the suds chamber 10 to maintain the level therein above the whipper 14.

Since the container is merely set into the socket 30, it is, of course, readily removable to allow the supply of liquid soap solution to be replenished whenever necessary, and to give the machine a neat appearance a plastic cover 40 is, readily detachably connected to the housing over the socket 30 and the container set therein.

The major portion of the lather chamber is formed as an integral part of the base, as noted before. Its upper portion, however, is provided by a lower motor bracket 42, the bottom of which has an inverted cupshaped formation with a horizontal wall 43 and a downwardly depending skirt 44. The motor bracket is held in place with the rim of its skirt in nesting engagement with the rim of the lather chamber, by screws 45 which pass through lugs 46 on the bracket and are threaded into posts 47 rising from the base 21 at diametrically opposite sides of the superimposed suds and lather chambers.

The lower inverted cup-shaped portion of the bracket 42 has a tubular extension 48, opening from its interior and projecting laterally towards the adjacent front wall 49 of the housing 28 to terminate in juxtaposition to a hole 50 therein. The lather delivery spout 16 projects through the hole 50 and is snapped onto the outer end of the tubular extension 43.

The wall 43 of the bracket 4-2 which forms the top of the lather chamber, has a bore therethrough to accommodate the motor shaft 19, and a socket in which a self-aligning bearing 51 for the motor shaft is seated. The stator laminations 52 of the motor, are clamped between the top of the bracket 42 and a yoke-like upper motor bracket 53 which carries the upper bearing 54 for the motor shaft and mounts the motor brush assembly 55. Screws 56 passing through portions of the legs of the yoke-like upper bracket 53 and through the laminations 52 are threaded into the lower bracket 42, to hold these parts assembled.

Attention is directed to the fact that the top wall 59 of the cover 28 has an air inlet hole 57 therethrough directly in line with the hollow motor shaft, and preferably a washer or gasket 58 of some suitable soft material is interposed between the underside of the cover wall 56 and the top of the bearing 54, around the hole 57 so that the air entering the hole must fiow into the hollow shaft.

The whipper 14 consists simply of a pair of parallel paddles 60 projecting in opposite directions from a sleeve 61, the bore of which fits the shaft 19. At its lower end the bore of the sleeve is slightly reduced and threaded onto the shaft, as at 62. The screw 20 which pumps the suds into the lather chamber, is an integral part of the sleeve.

It is important to note that no part of the whipper extends across the open bottom end of the hollow shaft. Hence, the air which enters the shaft through the air hole 57 debouches directly downwardly into the suds chamber 10. Moreover, if perchance any part of the bore through the shaft should become clogged, it is only necessary to push a rod or wire down through the shaft to clear the obstruction.

The agitator 15 is essentially a cylindrical body or spool of somewhat resilient material, with its cylindrical surface grooved to provide a multiplicity of circumferentially spaced steeply helical ribs These ribs cooperate with similanly spaced vertically disposed ribs or lands 63 projecting in from the side wall of the lather chamber to break down the large air-soap bubbles which comprise the suds that enters the lather chamber from the suds chamber, and thus converts the suds into lather. The direction in which the ribs 15 on the agitator spool are inclined is such that during operation of the machine, the reaction between the lather and the agitator spool tends to force the spool downward against the combined whipper and pump while the lather is propelled upward towards and out through the tubular extension 48 which leads from the upper portion of the lather chamber to the delivery spout. 16.

Since the upper end of the agitator .15 is directly opposite the lather outlet, initial delivery of lather occurs almost the instant the machine is turned on; and because the lather chamber is directly above the suds chamber so that any liquid which may storm therein promptly drains hack into the suds chamber, and because the lather outlet is far above the point at which the suds enters the lather chamber, it is virtually impossible for the machine to deliver wet or sudsy lather.

Because of space limitations within the housing the switch 65 which controls the motor '18, must be located in the rear part of the housing remote from its front wall 49. Here it is secured to the molded bracket 42 with its actuator 66 facing generally forwardly and requiring upward displacement to effect closure of the switch, the switch being of the type which is biased to its open condition. To effect such upward switch-closing motion of the actuator 66 upon downward displacement of the knob 17, a lever 67 connects the knob with the switch actuator. The front end of this lever is pivotally mounted, as at 68, upon a downwardly extending portion 69 of the molded bracket 42, and has a hole 70 in its rear end portion to receive the actuator 66.

A downwardly projecting arm 71 on the front end of the lever has a finger 72 projecting therefrom toward a hole 73 in the front wall 50 of the housing. The knob 17 projects into this hole and is press-fitted onto this finger. Thus, as the knob is pressed down, the lever is rocked about its pivotal mounting and thereby shifts the switch actuator upward to close the switch. Obviously, upon cessation of the downward pressure upon the knob, the switch automatically reopens.

A heater 75 is connected in circuit to keep the soap solution, suds and lather warm, as long as the supply cord 76 of the machine is plugged into an electric socket.

From the foregoing description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent that this invention provides a compact, simple and inexpensive machine for producing lather from liquid soap solution, which is fully automatic in operation, but which has no valves or restricted passages that can become clogged or blocked by dried lather or soap between periods of use, so that the machine is very dependable. It will also be apparent that the machine of this invention is capable of producing a very high quality lather, unmixed with liquid soap solution or bubbly suds.

What is claimed as our invention is:

1. A lather making machine comp-rising:

(A) structure defining (1) a suds chamber having a top wall and (2) a lather chamber directly superimposed upon the top wall of the suds chamber,

(a) the top wall of the suds chamber having a hole therethrough to communicate the uppermost part of the suds chamber with the lather chamber, the axis of said hole being Vertical; (B) means defining an inlet into the suds chamber near the bottom thereof for the admission oi liquid soap solution;

(C) means defining a lather outlet leading from the upper portion of the lather chamber;

(D) a hollow upright rotatably mounted shaft entering the lather chamber through the top thereof and passing vertically down through the lather chamber and through said hole which communicates the two chambers, to have its lower end located in the suds chamber,

( 1) the portion of the hollow shaft which is located in said hole constricting the communication. between the two chambers; and

(2) the upper end of the hollow shaft opening to the atmosphere and the lower end thereof opening into the suds chamber, so that the hollow shaft provides a restricted air inlet into the suds chamber,

(B) said two chambers being closed except for said restricted air inlet into the suds chamber, the inlet for soap solution into the suds chamber and the lather outlet leading from the lather chamber;

(F) a whipper fixed to the lower end portion of the shaft to revolve in liquid soap solution in the suds chamber upon rotation of the shaft and thereby form suds which accumulate in the suds chamber and pass through said hole into the lather chamber as the volume of the suds increases;

(G) an agitator fixed to the hollow shaft inside the lather chamber;

(H) cooperating means on the peripheral surface of the agitator and the inner wall of the lather chamher to convert soap suds entering said chamber into lather and to propel the same from the lather chamber through the outlet leading from its upper portion upon rotation of the shaft;

(I) power drive means connected with the upper end portion of the hohlow shaft to revolve the shaft and the whipper and agitator fixed thereto;

(J) means for supplying the suds chamber with liquid soap solution, said means including (1) a reservoir for liquid soap solution connected with said soap solution inlet; and

(K) means to maintain the soap solution in the suds chamber at a level above the whipper but below the top of the suds chamber and said hole therein so that the upper portion of the suds chamber provides space for suds to accumulate.

2. The lather making machine 'of claim 1 wherein the lower end of the hollow shaft opens downwardly into the suds chamber so that the restricted air inlet into the suds chamber which the hollow shafit provides can be easily kept open by simply pushing a rod or wire down through the hollow shaft.

3. The lather making machine of claim 1,

(A) wherein the top of the lather chamber is at a level above the bottom edge of the lather outlet, and

(B) the upper portion of the agitator extends above the bottom of said outlet,

said positional relationship of the lather outlet with respect to the top ot' the lather chamber and the agitator therein assuring more rapid initial delivery of lather upon starting of the machine.

4. The lather making machine of claim 1,

(A) wherein the reservoir for liquid soap solution is located alongside the suds chamber substantially level with it,

(B) wherein the connection of said soap solution inlet with the reservoir is near the bottom thereof,

(C) wherein the means for supplying liquid soapsolution to the suds chamber, comprises in addition to the reservoir a jar containing soap solution and having an apertured closure cap but being otherwise imperfora-te, and

(D) means supporting the jar in an inverted position above the reservoir with the aperture in its closure cap at a level above the whipper in the suds chamber but below the top of said chamber, so that the flow of soap solution from the inverted jar which takes place whenever the level of the solution in the reservoir and in the suds chamber drops below the level of the aperture in the closure cap, automatically maintains an adequate supply of liquid soap solution in the suds chamber.

5. The lather making machine of claim 1,

(A) wherein the power drive means is an electric motor mounted upon the structure which defines the two chambers, and

(B) wherein the hollow shaft is also the armature shaft of the motor.

6. The lather making machine of claim 1, further characterized by (A) a screw type pump on that portion of the hollow shaft which passes through the hole communicating the two chambers,

to accelerate the delivery of suds to the lather chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Tuttle Sept. 23, Ashlock June 30, Johnson et al. Sept. 9, Potts Mar. 30, Stevens Feb. 16, Barrows Feb. 28,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 12, 

1. A LATHER MAKING MACHINE COMPRISING: (A) STRUCTURE DEFINING (1) A SUDS CHAMBER HAVING A TOP WALL AND (2) A LATHER CHAMBER DIRECTLY SUPERIMPOSED UPON THE TOP WALL OF THE SUDS CHAMBER, (A) THE TOP WALL OF THE SUDS CHAMBER HAVING A HOLE THERETHROUGH TO COMMUNICATE THE UPPERMOST PART OF THE SUDS CHAMBER WITH THE LATHER CHAMBER, THE AXIS OF SAID HOLE BEING VERTICAL; (B) MEANS DEFINING AN INLET INTO THE SUDS CHAMBER NEAR THE BOTTOM THEREOF FOR THE ADMISSION OF LIQUID SOAP SOLUTION; (C) MEANS DEFINING A LATHER OUTLET LEADING FROM THE UPPER PORTION OF THE LATHER CHAMBER; (D) A HOLLOW UPRIGHT ROTATABLY MOUNTED SHAFT ENTERING THE LATHER CHAMBER THROUGH THE TOP THEREOF AND PASSING VERTICALLY DOWN THROUGH THE LATHER CHAMBER AND THROUGH SAID HOLE WHICH COMMUNICATES THE TWO CHAMBERS, TO HAVE ITS LOWER END LOCATED IN THE SUDS CHAMBER, (1) THE PORTION OF THE HOLLOW SHAFT WHICH IS LOCATED IN SAID HOLE CONSTRICTING THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO CHAMBERS; AND 